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We are officially in the season of Lent which started on Wednesday. Lent is a 40-day (excluding Sundays) Christian liturgical season of fasting, prayer, and penance that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends before Easter. It commemorates Jesus Christ's 40 days of fasting in the wilderness. It is a time for reflection, spiritual renewal, and preparing for the resurrection. Many people have a tradition of giving something up for Lent. This Lent we are challenging you to take up something. Each week there will be a Lenten challenge, if you will, that is tied to our Believe series to help make this Lenten season an enhanced season of spiritual growth.

In addition, we are hosting Cottage Meetings through the season of Lent. The first one was on Tuesday evening and there is a second one tomorrow evening. Look for the schedule in your mailbox and your deacon should be contacting you about coming to their cottage meeting. Feel free though to attend any meeting that works with your schedule provided you let the host know you will be attending. 

This was a busy week for me. After our worship service on Sunday, Pastor Mary Etta and I visited Loren Bucher in the hospital to anoint him in the Brethren tradition. We were able to accomplish the anointing and pray over him. Less than two hours later, Loren passed into the arms of the Savior he knew and loved so much. His celebration of life service will be at the church on Friday, March 6 at 11:00 am. Your prayers for his sister Chris and her husband Ted are encouraged as they mourn Loren’s homegoing.

Also, I received word on Tuesday that Frances Kreider was under hospice care at home. I was able to visit the family, anoint Frances, and pray over her on Tuesday. Less than 24 hours later Frances was welcomed into her eternal home. Prayers for Don, the children, and extended family are encouraged. Details are pending regarding a celebration of life service for Frances.

Janae and I are heading to Orlando Monday morning for a summit of Church of the Brethren pastors and leaders. It is officially called the Church of the Brethren Large Church Leaders Summit. I am excited to learn more from leaders in similar sized churches to learn what is working for them and see perhaps how we can enhance the ministries at Mechanic Grove. Because of the summit, Janae and I will both be out of the area much of the week. We will return late Thursday.

For years now, Ruth has taken a week in the winter to visit her Uncle Ron and Aunt Alice in Florida. She looks forward to the time away and Ron and Alice enjoy having her. Well tomorrow she leaves for her week away returning the following Saturday. Unfortunately, she will not be close to where Janae and I will be in Florida next week. Nevertheless, your prayers for all of us traveling (Pastor Rita is going to Florida too next week for a FaithX trip!) are appreciated.

This week in our Believe series we will be looking at compassion. Most of us don’t think of compassion as a belief, but more so as a practice or a virtue. Yet as we will see on Sunday, compassion is a belief that comes from seeing humanity as God sees them. In addition, our choir will sing in the 8:15 service, and our Sunday School will be focused on compassion as well. Next Wednesday evening at the Adult Bible Study, Pastor Mary Etta will be helping us dig a little deeper into God’s Word with some great teachings and examples of compassion in the Gospels.

I always enjoy reading in Janae’s column what she is reading and so this Lenten season I will be reading Chuck Swindoll’s book, “The Darkness and the Dawn.” This is one of my favorite books that covers the last week of Jesus’ life in detail. Let me suggest as well in this season of Lent to focus in on Jesus, and particularly the last week of His life. Read Matthew 21-28, Mark 11-16, Luke 19-24, and John 12-21. 

Let me close with this: This week in our Adult Bible study, we were digging deeper into humanity and how God sees humans. We agreed that humanity is the pinnacle of God’s creation and that we are uniquely made in His image (Genesis 1:26). We had great discussion on what it means to be “made in the image of God” and we wrestled with our own sinfulness and how we so struggle to see people as God sees them.  2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!” is so reassuring and reminds us of the potential of our new nature in Christ. So, the good news on this first Friday of Lent is that we are wonderfully and uniquely made in the image of God and become a new creation in Christ because of our blessed Savior. 

Well, the weekend is here and I am praying for you as our Lenten Journey continues through the Believe series. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday as we once again gather as our Lord’s Church - the Mechanic Grove Church of the Brethren. Remember, it is Friday…but Sunday’s coming!

Pastor Kevin